From 2004 to 2007, Mazur worked as deputy mayor of Tomsk for information policy, head of the committee for public relations and information policy, in 2008 he became the general director of Gazprom’s subsidiary OAO Zapsibgazprom.
In 2011, he was appointed Vice Governor of the Tyumen Region for investment policy, ecology and subsoil use. From October 2012 to April 2019, Mazur headed the administration of Tobolsk. After resigning, he became vice-governor of the Kaluga region.
Read on RBC Pro
About 1.1 million people live in the Tomsk region. In 2019, the gross regional product (GRP) of the region, according to the most up-to-date data from Rosstat, amounted to about 623 billion rubles. (about 0.7% of the total GRP of all Russian subjects). Almost a third of the territory of the region is not inhabited due to the large area of swamps and forests, the ACRA rating agency noted.
The economy of the Tomsk region is highly dependent on oil production: in 2019, 27.5% of its GRP came from mining. In recent years, oil production in the region has been declining. Per capita GRP remains below the national average by 10.6% (according to 2019 data). In 2020, the real incomes of residents of the Tomsk Region decreased by 2.3%, while the decline in incomes in the Siberian Federal District as a whole turned out to be less – 1.2%. In the third quarter of 2021 (the latest data from Rosstat), real incomes in the region decreased by 0.1% compared to the same period of the previous year (with an increase of 3.5% in the Siberian District as a whole). ACRA points out that Tomsk is a major educational center — the Tomsk Region was in third place in terms of the number of students per 10,000 people in 2019 after St. Petersburg and Moscow.
ACRA evaluates the budget profile of the Tomsk region is moderate: current revenues are sufficient to cover operating expenses, but borrowing is required to finance capital expenditures. The debt burden is also assessed as moderate. According to the Federal Tax Service, the tax revenues of the Tomsk region in January-November 2021 increased by 16% compared to the same period in 202, to 52.8 billion rubles. Subsidies to the regional budget from the federal budget in 2020 amounted to 12.7 billion rubles. – according to this indicator, the region is in the middle of the list of regions – recipients of subsidies (42nd place).
Protest region
Currently, the Tomsk region is headed by Sergey Zhvachkin. As RBC previously reported, he may leave his post. Zhvachkin is 65 years old, he is completing his second term. The powers of the governor of the Tomsk region expire this autumn.
As the main reasons for the possible resignation of Zhvachkin, experts called the age of the head of the region and the unsuccessful results of the elections to the Tomsk City Duma in 2020 for the authorities. Then, in 19 out of 27 constituencies, candidates supported by Alexei Navalny won. In particular, the coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters (recognized as an extremist organization, their activities are prohibited in Russia) Ksenia Fadeeva became a deputy.
According to two sources close to the presidential administration, Zhvachkin has a low rating.
“Tomsk region is a region with high risks of protest voting. This was shown by the elections to the Tomsk City Duma, including the activity of Navalny’s supporters. In addition, there is an actual anarchy in the regional center in connection with the court verdict of Mayor Klein [приговорен к двум годам колонии общего режима по обвинению в злоупотреблении должностными полномочиями]Rostislav Turovsky, an expert on regional policy, says. The current governor Zhvachkin is an experienced business executive with connections in Gazprom, the expert adds, but he does not fit into the trend of renewing regional authorities: “From this point of view, the Tomsk region is almost the main contender for rotation.”
As for Mazur, he has good relations with the presidential administration: “He is in a kind of personnel reserve, since he was previously planned for the Kaluga governor, but he did not become one,” Turovsky believes.